IDPH has cited and fined South Suburban Rehab in Homewood after a resident there was rolled out of bed by an aide during incontinence care.
The story that this citation tells is one that has been told many, many times on this blog: staff tries to provide care with a single person where the help of two is required, and as a result, the resident suffers serious injury. For examples, see here, here, here, here, here, and here …. and sadly that is not all of them even in the last year.
The resident required extensive assistance with incontinence care and had a care plan in place which called for care for her to be provided in pairs. The care plan was spelled out for the aide on duty on the resident care card, but as the aide later told the state surveyor, she did not read the care card before beginning to provide care to the resident. The resident had an episode of incontinence and required changing of her diaper. Rather than wait for help from a second staff member, the aide attempted to provide the incontinence care herself, and in the process, rolled the resident off the edge of the bed. As a result of this nursing home fall, she suffered a fractured hip.
A fractured hip is a serious injury for anyone, but can be deadly for a nursing home resident. Assuming that the resident survives the surgery itself, there are complications from hip fractures such as heart attack, DVT, pulmonary embolism, and stroke all in play during the immediate post-operative period. Past that, many nursing home residents never fully regain the ability to walk which places them at risk further further falls, developing bed sores, and suffering pneumonia. When one of these complications is a contributing cause to the death of a resident, that can serve as the basis for a wrongful death lawsuit.
We know that the aide certainly should have waited for the help of a second staff member before attempting to provide the incontinence care, but the real question of course is why didn’t she? She told the state surveyor that she was in a hurry and that it was approaching the end of her shift. The surveyor further asked when she last attended an in-service training regarding providing ADL care, the aide told the surveyor it was probably years earlier. What this really says is that the problem is the nursing home business model. “Being in a hurry” is a hallmark of an understaffed nursing home. Going years without in-service training on basic functions speaks to a lack of investment in the staff, which is also a feature, not a bug in the nursing home business model.
One of our core beliefs is that nursing homes are built to fail due to the business model they follow and that unnecessary accidental injuries and wrongful deaths of nursing home residents are the inevitable result. Order our FREE report, Built to Fail, to learn more about why. Our experienced Chicago nursing home lawyers are ready to help you understand what happened, why, and what your rights are. Contact us to get the help you need.
Other blog posts of interest:
Symphony at South Shore resident suffers open fracture of leg in unsafe transfer
No fall prevention care planning at South Suburban Rehab
Resident falls from bed at Spring Creek
Park Place Christian Community resident rolled out of bed by staff
Mechanical lift accident at South Holland Manor
Aperion Care International resident fractures ankle in unsafe transfer
Click here to file a complaint about a nursing home with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
